Policies

[Kura Ookami]

Bumped to clear the last poster tag.

[Beast]

[Fireproof]

Aho is the equivalent of baka. It's from the Kansai dialect of Japanese (The dialect Osaka from Azumanga Daioh uses).

A lot of the Japanese words might not be literal profanities in the sense of our American "Words you can't say on television," but they are pretty rude when addressing someone that way, far more than we'd realize from watching anime.

My Japanese language teacher drove that one home by saying you shouldn't be using words like bakayaro or kisama unless you're looking to fight the one you're calling that.

From Osaka, eh? That would explain it. The person who said "aho" was milder lives in Osaka, so maybe he's more familiar with the dialect? I dunno.

[Bobtheduck]

Some of the people who ran the Japanese fellowship had no problem with Baka used in a playfull tone, and no problem whatsoever with "kuso." The fact that the latter gets translated into a word that offends people has to do with the pitfalls of translation and not a universal standard. What I was told is "some people are bothered by 'kuso', like older people" and the idea I had gotten from them was that the topic (feces) is sorta one people in more traditional Japan didn't talk much about. It's just not polite, but that didn't make the word vulgar.

Ahou, from what I had heard, though this person was from tokyo and not from Osaka (and I guess it is possible that Japanese people can disagree on their own language... Even though that NEVER happens in English) is that Ahou is actually crueller... Baka is like saying stupid, wheras Ahou has connotations of mental retardation... Either one can be harsh insults, but I have never heard Ahou used playfully from someone who was actually Japanese...

In the same conversation as baka and kuso, the word "Yaro" was discussed... It just means "person" but it is the lowest form of the word for person, so unless it is being used playfully, it is meant as a belittling remark... We don't have that phenomenon in English, so it doesn't really translate with the same sort of punch as it has in Japanese.

I think someone dealing with Japanese langauge must come from the orientation of the levels of defference and familiarity and not look at it from a anglophonic perspective...

But, meh... Whatever... Aside from my using it in this post, I won't use the "k" word on this site, and I'll try to avoid calling people baka... I never use Ahou anyhow, so I won't worry about that... I do often feel driven to explain myself, but I won't fight things like this anymore (yes, I know I likely wasnt' on anyone's mind during this conversation... It just happens to correspond with me even if no one had me in mind)

[Dunedan]

I'm glad that there are rules against arguing philosophy too much here, because I've had quite a few arguments with firends over such things, an it just makes a mess of things sometimes.

On a side note, are politics out too? I was just wondering if this was adressed, as arguing about politics can get just as messy(or messier) as arguing about theology? I just wanted to lightly adress that. Not that I'd like to, because I really don't.

[Ashley]

Yes, politics are also ruled out. This list is most likely not as up-to-date as our FAQs are.